Biodiversity Action Plan for Bhutan.

This Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan provides a framework for action that will enhance Bhutan’s ability to ensure the productivity, diversity and integrity of its biodiversity and natural systems.
Actions are proposed in the document. For conservation and sustainable use of wild biodiversity resources, actions include: l. Complete the establishment and management of the protected area system which adequately protects the full range of the nation’s ecosystems and species; 2. Prepare guidelines for the preparation of management plans for protected areas; 3. Accelerate the phased approach to preparing and implementing management plans; 4. Complete the review of the biodiversity, biophysical and socioeconomic situations of the current protected areas; 5. Give priority attention to developing management strategies for buffer and enclave zones, around and in protected areas; 6. Promote participation and involvement of local communities of buffer and enclave zones in conservation and development efforts and seek to bring them benefits from conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; Promote in-situ conservation of wild crop relatives and wild plants for food production conservation outside of protected areas through continuing and expanding the Integrated Conservation and Development Projects, intended to bring development benefits to people who are inhabitants or who live in the vicinity of the protected areas, and esstablishing and implementing sound forest management plans to assure that forests with their biodiversity are managed on a sustainable basis; etc.
Regarding to the domestic biodiversity resources, actions to promote in-situ conservation include: 1. Develop a policy on introduction of exotic high yielding varieties which assures that the benefits of indigenous genetic resources are not lost to Bhutan; 2. Survey and inventory crop genetic resources; 3. Support on-farm management and improvement of plant genetic resources; 4. Assist farmers in disaster situations to restore agricultural systems. Actions to promote ex-situ conservation contain: 1. Support planned and targeted collecting of plant genetic resources in arable agricultural systems; 2. Expand ex-situ conservation activities, including botanical gardens, field genebanks and the use of new technologies.